Tag Archives: Women Rights in Nigeria

In continuation of our project which seeks to reduce and eliminate violence against women and girls, Lawyers alert has added 5 states to its already existing 8, making it a total of 13 states.

As in other states, Lawyers Alert in these new states will meet and create partnership with community women groups, the media and human rights lawyers in each state. The essence is to create rights awareness for women so they can report violations of their rights when it occurs and to recognize violations around them. It is also necessary that the media is sensitized on how best to report gender based violence through the lens of human rights. The last objective is to link these women with lawyers who will provide them with free legal services and where the services required are not legal, to refer them to other service providers.

In the last 6 weeks, Lawyers Alert has created partnership with key groups in these 5 states and we are currently liaising with several community women groups who report violations and access free legal services.

In Osun state, we are liaising with Community Advancement Initiative for Self-Reliance while in Plateau the partnering is with Center for the Advocacy for Justice and Rights (CAJR). In Niger, the Sisters Closet Counseling Volunteers (SCCV) are our partners as Girls Power Initiative (GPI) work with us in Edo State. Rahama Women Development Programme (RWDP) is our partners in Bauchi State.

Even though the project is halfway implemented, we have recorded an estimated 59 reported violations, with free legal services now being offered to over 42 women.

We have a vision of bringing justice home to women and girls who suffer violations and to also create enough publicity around these harmful practices. The analyzed data will soon be released and this will reveal the number of violations in Nigeria. Someday, we hope that these violations will become a thing of the past.

Bang! Bang!! Bang!!! Bot (not real name) keeps hitting on the door as he hollers her name in the still of the night. Kangyang, (not real name) 28, and a Mother of two slowly sits up in her hard, and narrow wooden bed. She picks up her small handset to check the time. The broken screen shows 1: 17 am. Oh no… not again. She hisses, gets up and opens the door for her husband. He staggers in and begins his routine of abuse and insults in slurred speech occasioned by too much alcohol. She is quiet and takes on the abuses with a dignified silence. He pushes away his food and demands sex. This time, Kangyang refuses. She has been busy on the farm all day and is too tired for sex and asks for a little more time to rest. Bot will have none of that. She stands her ground. A scuffle ensues. Bot grabs Kangyang by the throat and begins to shake her violently. She struggles, but her blocked wind pipe cannot take in enough oxygen to sustain her strength. She gasps and gasps while Bot tightens his grip. She finally weakens and slumps, dead.

Kangyang’s story is an everyday narrative in Nigeria. Violence against Women is as common place as any other vice. The United Nations Fund for Population Agency (UNFPA) reported in 2016 that Gender Based Violence, especially against women has a prevalence rate of over 30% across the country. This translates into 1 out of every 10 Women in Nigeria as a victim of violence in one form or more. The same report has it that over 25% of Nigerian women are circumcised.

There has been an unprecedented rise in violence against women in spite of the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition Act) 2015. In Plateau State for instance, reports indicate that Violence against women is on the rise. Reports from the Media and other stakeholders including the Civil Society in Plateau State has it that in the last one year, there have been up to 430 reported cases of violations against Women in the State. Of these figures, 123 are rape cases of which 96 or 80% involve minors. There are over 21 cases of murder and many more.

Currently, efforts are being made by State and Non-State Actors in Plateau state to curb this fast rising menace to the womenfolk. The Civil Society has formed an observatory platform that monitors and documents these violations. According to our sources, the Observatory Platform has over 23 Civil Society and other key stakeholders. It is this platform that has recorded the over 430 cases of violations in Plateau State over the period of 1 year alone.

Besides the efforts Civil Society, the Plateau State House of Assembly, worried by the rising cases of violations against women, has initiated an Executive bill which seeks to penalize perpatrators of violence against women. The proposed bill seeks to strengthen the old Northern Nigeria Penal Code under which offenders are currently charged and tried. The Northern Nigeria Penal Code is archaic and does not speak to current realities on ground. The proposed bill is yet to be passed and it’s still in the formative stages in the Plateau State House of Assembly.

Lawyers Alert commends the efforts of both the State and Non-State Actors in Plateau State in tackling the issue of violence against Women. Gender Based Violence (GBV) is a menace that should concern every member of the society, regardless of status.

Given the above therefore, Lawyers Alert as a Human Rights Organization and a staunch advocate of Gender Equality and Women Empowerment, wishes to make the following suggestions to both the Civil Society and Government Institutions in Plateau State and Nigeria as a whole, in their efforts to curb the violations against Women and other vulnerable groups.

Recorded violations should not be stopped at the documentation stages alone but such cases should be taken to Court where the perpetrators will be adequately punished and the victims compensated

Monitored and documented violations should be analysed by the Civil Society in order to pattern out a trend in the violations. This will help in directing advocacy courses and programs.

There should be a pool of Human Rights Lawyers set to offer pro bono services to the victims of these violations especially for the poor and vulnerable.

Civil Society should push for the passage and implementation of laws and policies that protect and empower Women including international, regional and local instruments.

To Government Institutions:

They should endeavour to pass laws and policies that protect and empower Women

Put in place structures and procedures to assure the full implementation of passed and domesticated laws in their States.

Put in place structures and platforms that empower Women in economic and social terms through the formulation of laws, policies and special interventions like Women Skill acquisition programs amongst others.

In conclusion, Women Rights are Human Rights guaranteed by laws. The violations against Women must be condemned and discouraged in strong terms at all levels in Nigeria and Plateau State in particular. Failure to take proactive measures in this regard could lead to more episodes of the Kangyang story in our communities.

So much has been written and heard concerning this issue in both the social and mainstream media. Both Ms. Lois and Governor Al Makura’s crowd are trading blames and claiming rights over the said incidence with each party putting forward their edition of the story.

For reminder on the story, on this day, along the Makurdi – Lafia – Abuja Federal High Way, a young lady by the name of Lois Iorvihi was allegedly molested, brutalized and violently intimidated by the security agents on the behest of a sitting Executive Governor under his nose with impunity. This action, is in direct contrast with the wind of change across Nigeria under President Muhammadu Buhari. It would appear Governor Al Makura and his security details are stuck in the past and have refused to flow with the tide of change.

We were not present when this incidence occurred to endorse or renounce their claims. Some underlying facts in both editions of the same story are however not manipulative. First, there was a face-off between Ms. Lois and the Convoy of Governor Al Makura. Second, the said incidence occurred before the very eyes of His Excellency, Governor Al Makura of Nasarawa State. Third, the young lady suffered some brutalization on herself, siblings and property including her car and media devices. Finally, the young lady was arrested, charged and detained alongside her siblings. Bare fact truth is that Ms. Lois and her siblings were violated simply because she is a woman with “less rights” than her male counterparts as far as Governor Al Makura and his boys are concerned.

In the face of the foregoing indisputable fact we make bold to say that the security agents took their jobs a little too far and the Governor did much too little to manage the incidence. We are not in any way exonerating Ms. Lois of blame neither are we indicting the Executive Governor and the security details. However, we are of the strong opinion that the unfortunate incidence was in the first place avoidable had someone along the line acted a little more civil. The management of the aftermath of the incidence is even worse than the incidence in itself. Since the occurrence of the incidence, the Governors’ spokesman Yakubu Lamai, Senior Special Assistant Public Affairs & Media Strategy has been turning logic on its head all in a bid to make his boss a saint and Ms. Iorvihi the villain.

It is a common knowledge on the streets of Nigeria that security agents especially those attached to high profile personalities act with dispatch overzealousness especially on hapless citizens. Therefore, it is not an out of place incidence for the security agents attached to the convoy of an Executive Governor to pounce on a young lady who seems reluctant to give way to the Governor’s convoy. What is however surprising and baffling is the period and timing of the incidence.

Barely three months into the “change” regime, one would have thought the era of Police brutality and Master Leadership was over. It is also surprising that this ugly incidence happened to a hapless young lady before the eyes of the Governor of the State. As an Executive Governor of a State, it is mind bugling to imagine him sitting in the luxury of his SUV while watching his goons manhandle a female motorist in broad day light. We strongly feel that it is duty and obligation of the Governor to uphold the dignity and rights of hapless Citizens ESPECIALLY women regardless of any circumstances. There is no law that encourages brutality and torture on offenders. Even if Ms. Lois was “driving in the middle of the road” or being “very rude” or even “dressed like a prostitute” it is still unwarranted that her car was smashed, her ipad and phones destroyed and her siblings beaten before detention. If Ms. Lois had violated traffic laws or committed some other form of crime, the civilized thing to do is to get her arrested and charged as per the offence. Her physical assault and brutalization under the watchful eyes of the Governor speaks volumes on the state of Human Rights in Nigeria especially those of Women. This incidence also serves as a reminder to us all that the issue of Women Human Rights is still light years away from being defended and respected in Nigeria.

Perhaps, the Governor’s Senior Special Assistant Public Affairs & Media Strategy, Yakubu Lamai was right when he said in his response to the incidence that “a political leader of the stature of a governor will naturally face a constant challenge posed by the social construction of his image and identity” which is why this incidence speaks volumes about the attitude of the Governor towards Human Rights and especially Women. In a bit to correct the above ugly incidence in preservation of his towering image we hereby recommend that the Executive Governor reach out a hand of friendship to Ms. Lois and her family. He should also attempt to recompense her on her lost and damaged properties in the hands of his goons including her car and devices. Pay the medical bills of her siblings brutalized in the course of the incidence. This way, Ms. Lois’ Fundamental Human Rights and indeed that of the entire Nigerian Women will be preserved especially in these days of change.

The likes of Governor Al Makura and his goons must learn to live with the change or make way for those who will for the good of Ms. Lois, Nigerian women and indeed the entire Nation.

Jerome Uneje Mary is a Program Officer at Lawyers Alert Head Office in Makurdi, Benue State. She can be reached at unejemarie@yahoo.com